


The End of a Beginning

by cherrytruck



Series: The Birkin Files [14]
Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Flashbacks, Gen, I keep joking about Birkin's virus love but I swear it's canon, M/M, Origin Story, aka birkin found out he had a virus fetish through daddy issues, he probably is trying to be a good husband but fails, here lies william birkin a great father and [insert laugh track here], ok I'm half joking there is no dad kink here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-12
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-09-17 03:08:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9301319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrytruck/pseuds/cherrytruck
Summary: After hearing of Birkin's fate, Wesker thinks back of their beginnings and the end of their time at Umbrella together.





	

**Author's Note:**

> There's a lot of personal headcanon in terms of plot here, so while there is a lot of gap to fill in for Birkin's life before he became a final boss of a videogame, I hope it doesn't contradict any facts already given - if there's anything jarringly inaccurate please do let me know!
> 
> Also just in case anyone reads this in the future or time travellers happen to stumble by in 2017 and I forget to update these notes later: This was written before any information on the RE2make came out, so all of this was based on current known RE canon prior to any potential retcons RE2make makes.

So the news was true – Dr Birkin was confirmed dead after making a mess out of the entire city. According to the reports it wasn’t an easy job identifying him, as whatever was left there was barely salvageable and apparently by the time of Birkin’s death, he had turned into a pile of mess which had no resemblance to his identity whatsoever. Even after DNA testing it appeared there was only a partial match, perhaps after the virus had rapidly mutated and overtook almost everything within Birkin’s own blueprint.

“William, you silly boy.” Wesker said with the slightest hint of sadness, even if he had long gotten over Dr Birkin by now. Sure, they made a great pair at Umbrella, but after spending too many years in there, Wesker knew there was no future for him in there while the naïve Birkin clung onto a project doomed to fail. He remembered that close to their last days at Umbrella together, Birkin aged rapidly and his personality declined, becoming more short-tempered and irritated over every little thing. Wesker didn’t forget the contributions Birkin made in the duration of their partnership and kept his respect for the good doctor, but he started to have the sense than Birkin saw him as a burden more than a companion. There was only so much Wesker could take in the end when Birkin chose to distance himself from his former friend. He tried to fool everyone, even himself, that he was trying to work on becoming a better family man for Annette and their daughter – too bad that promise became a complete farce.

Sighing, Wesker put the paper reports on the desk and lay down in bed, taking off his shades. His eyes remained opened though, as he tried to reminisce of how it all begun and ended wtih Birkin.

~

It was 18 years ago – _damn, it had been that long_ – when they first met. The pair of young men had already been working at Umbrella for a couple years, but never crossed paths besides perhaps seeing one another briefly in the hallways or wherever else.

Albert was 20 back then. He was still working his way up the ranks, but proving to be a favoured intern. One of his last tasks for the day would be to take a heavy box of samples to another scientist’s lab. He remembered what the box said. “W BIRKIN – HOLD THIS SIDE UP. FRAGILE MATERIAL. DO NOT DROP!”

“Great.” Albert picked up the box and proceed to this Birkin guy’s room. He reached his destination, and the door seemed to be wide open.

When he made it in, he was a little surprised – a young man fair-haired was sat down, reading what must have been textbooks in clinical medicine. That, and the man had a floating balloon with a giant “18” on it attached to one of his desks.

“Are you Birkin?”

The young man’s face made eye contact with Albert. “Yes, that would be me. You can just place it on the desk there. Thank you.”

Albert did as told. He would have simply left and gone home after that, but that jarring balloon drew in his curiosity. “So, you just turned eighteen today?”

“Indeed I have. Surprised how young I am?” This young man had a soft tone to him, but there was an air of smugness included as well.

“A little. Well, happy birthday, Birkin. Enjoy adulthood while it’s fun.”

“Call me William. I won’t be a Dr Birkin for a while yet,” the young man greeted. “You’re the first person who has noticed it is my birthday today. Want to join the party?” William picked up one of the party poppers scattered on his desk and pulled it at Albert’s direction in quite a deadbeat manner.

Albert had nothing else to do, so he figured, why not. Might have been an interesting change with overtime at Umbrella. “I suppose I could. Is anyone else invited? Got anything you’re doing later?”

“…not really. I didn’t actually plan to do anything.” William took another party popper and pulled it in the direction of his own desk, letting the confetti surround his books and equipment. “I just thought I’d give this place a bit of colour to mark this arbitrary event. I prefer not to be surrounded by too many people – not like I know anyone at Umbrella anyway. I suppose just having one person around is enough of a huge house party for me. I already feel like the hottest kid in the block.”

“You are one silly boy,” Albert said teasingly. Despite his odd mannerisms there was some kind of awkward charm about him.

“Says the guy wearing sunglasses in a deep underground facility like this.” William laughed for the first time since they met. “What’s your name, then?”

“Albert.” He wasn’t going to justify why he wore the shades even if William was right to point out they were unnecessary for his vision. “Albert Wesker.”

“Nice to meet you.” The two of them shook hands – Albert noticed just how skinny William’s hands were in comparison to his own. “Want to see the birthday present you just delivered for me?”

“Sure, let’s have a look.” Albert wondered why that thing was so heavy anyway.

William took out the contents and most seemed to be test tubes with hazard symbols all over them – Albert wasn’t sure why there was no such warning on the box. Umbrella wasn’t the best at following safety procedures but this was something rather daft to overlook.

“They shipped some samples of the Ebola virus for me to take a look at. Good thing you didn’t drop it, or perhaps you’d end up getting a little ill.”

Albert blinked. “I see. That’s…quite the present.”

William smiled, his face looking completely innocent, almost angelic in a sense. “Science and research is my passion. I’ve always been fascinated by this virus. At long last, I get to touch it with my own bare hands...”

His odd affinity with this deadly virus was intriguing. Albert decided to ask for more. “Do tell me about your story with this virus.”

“Well.” The young man grabbed hold of one sealed tube of the virus – Albert had to admit he was a little worried the young man might have dropped it in as a result of becoming too distracted and get them both infected. “My father was a doctor who travelled around the world helping countries with poor healthcare access. He was an excellent man and I wanted to be just like him - another Dr Birkin in the family who’d contribute towards aiding humanity. One day he travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo...four years ago. That’s when the Ebola outbreak occurred. He did his best to stay and help the victims, but ultimately he and many others succumbed to the virus.”

“I am sorry for your loss,” Albert said mostly out of good manners. “And I take it you want to find a way to eradicate this virus?”

“Eradicate?” William shook his head, gripping more tightly onto the tube. “Why would I want that? The virus fascinates me to no end – how it managed to so rapidly spread and act with such potency. The way it was able to make such an impact, acting on its own biological will despite not even being classified as life – how could such a small amount of material, the very material shared within our own genetic makeup, contain such power that overcomes us more complex humans? My father was a genius who spent his entire life curing everything that could ever exist, and yet a single virus outsmarted him. That’s why I want to learn more about viruses...How to understand their sheer power.”

Albert had to admit, even from William that was unexpected. A little unsettling too, though he had to admire the young man’s energy and honesty. “So you started out wanting to help people and now you are more invested in viruses. No wonder you ended up here at Umbrella.”

“You could put it that way, though I wouldn’t say my desire to help humanity has changed. Anyway,” William continued, putting the test tube with the virus down somewhere which was now safe. “I appreciate you listening. I admit my big 18th did start to get a bit lonely until you let me talk with you. Thank you, Albert.”

“Thank _you_ for spending your precious time letting me into your huge house party when you’re clearly a very busy man.” Albert moved his sunglasses up to his head, one of the rare times he took them off his eyes in front of someone. “I’m sure you will achieve some amazing things here. I cannot wait to see what comes of your research.”

~

“I told you, I cannot leave! I’m not abandoning my entire life’s work!”

Fast forward to many years later where their youth seemed to fly by so quickly, so many things had happened and changed in that duration of time. Yet, the two scientists would always stick by one another through their best and cruelest moments – until now.

“I’m not asking you to abandon it,” Wesker told him calmly. One thing different in this scene was that Wesker no longer donned the labcoat, having swapped it with his new uniform representing law enforcement. “But you’re not safe here, and I simply had to warn you that if you continue to stay at Umbrella you’re bound to be doomed. The G-Virus can wait.”

“No! I’m about to hit a breakthrough!” Birkin finally turned to face Wesker, only to give him a scathing look, one with almost no beauty left on his face. “Wesker, I know you don’t believe in my project – you’ve stopped caring ever since the completion of the T-Virus. What ever happened to you? I thought we had something in common – our fascination for discovery and pushing boundaries. Now all you do is jump at every opportunity to get ahead and you’ve abandoned science completely!” Birkin then aggressively pushed some books from the desk to the ground. “I would rather die than throw away my life’s research. You’re wasting my time by insisting I leave. If this is all you have left to contribute, then forget it. Don’t bother coming back here.”

“There’s no need to be like this.” Wesker did his best to ignore the insults, dismissing them as Birkin’s understandable state of anxiety. Wesker did after all deliver the bad news he had been tipped off that Umbrella may have had plans to do away with him the same way he - no, _both of them_ \- disposed of Marcus. “I very much _do_ want you to finish your project after watching years progression by your side. But you can’t complete it if you’re a dead man, and no virus is worth your demise. You need to take a breath and think for a moment.”

“I’m not doing it for the virus,” Birkin claimed – though Wesker didn’t feel convinced. “I’m doing it for my family. I’ve hurt Annette by letting her so far into this project, and Sherry’s suffered too. I’m not going to let it be in vain, and I cannot abandon them like this. Once the project is complete, I…I can...”

“You’re blaming me again for your own problems at home.” Wesker had enough of it. The of them knew the one person responsible for all this was Birkin himself, for his own inability to commit to those he claimed he loved. “If you truly cared for your family,” Wesker uttered, “You would have abandoned your project long ago.”

In that moment, Wesker saw Birkin’s eyes filled with more resentment than ever before. He used to be so calm, so quiet and timid, but Birkin truly had changed for the worst in all these years. His enthusiasm for science only grew bigger, but so did his insanity.

Instantly, Birkin grabbed the coffee mug on his desk and threw it towards Wesker. His reflexes were fast, and he caught it quicker than Birkin threw it.

“How dare you use my own family to insult me!” Birkin ran up towards Wesker in what was probably an attempt to punch him, but Wesker was able to drop Birkin’s mug quick enough to free his hands. It was almost too easy to restrain the scientist’s wrists – they had become far skinnier than when he had last held onto them.

“William. Calm down.” It was clear that Birkin wasn’t really getting fired up because they were talking about his family - it was the fact that Birkin had to think about being separated from his virus. Wesker let go, and watched as Birkin realized he was no match against him. The man in his labcoat walked back to his desk and slammed his fists against the table, proceeding to bury his head in his hands.

“Don’t call me that. It’s Dr Birkin...”

“Very well…Doctor.” There used to be a time where he’d call Birkin that in a friendlier manner, but now it was a title that made him seem like one of many Umbrella scientists who lost their mind and logic over their own work. “Whatever you choose to do, I want to hear how things are going. Keep me up to date with your progress. Let me know if you need my assistance at any point.” Wesker picked up the dropped mug on the floor and walked towards Birkin to place it back on the desk. It didn’t look like the scientist was interested in talking or even making eye contact with him. Still, Wesker didn’t want the conversation to just end there. “Birkin. I’ll make good use of the T-Virus. Trust me.”

That made Birkin twitch a little. He made eye contact with Wesker, but still said nothing before turning back to his desk. It was enough of an acknowledgement, so Wesker left him be. He had done everything he could.

And that would be the last time Wesker saw Birkin again.

~

When Wesker heard that Birkin had attempted to make negotiations with both Umbrella and the US military, which then ended up in Birkin taking hundreds of bullets through the heart and becoming the first to be infected by the G-Virus by his own hand, he let out a huge sigh.

It was a shame. Wesker was only still only alive because of him. Even if they had parted ways, Birkin never truly left his side. The T-virus would always be inside him now that Wesker was as foolish as Birkin to infect himself with his creation. Their research was supposed to benefit one another, but it looked as if fate had not favoured William.

By this time, Wesker’s only interest was in the pursuit of power, but perhaps there was a small part of him that still hoped to reunite with Birkin in some kind of way when he sent Ada to the scene of disaster. It was too late though, and Birkin was beyond all help. Wesker had to forget about him - and besides, the scientist would have preferred his G-Virus to be saved more than anything else.

Still, Wesker had to wonder if despite his physical malformation, Birkin had truly changed since they last met. William had already started changing way before the completion of the G-Virus project. This so-called G-Birkin was reported to be uncontrollably killing everyone involved in trying to take away his virus samples, some believing the virus had completely taken over his mind. Wesker couldn’t help but laugh at that thought. The Dr Birkin he knew would have killed them anyway, mutation or no mutation.

That William sure was one silly boy.


End file.
